Creature of Dawn
by EmilykaFairy
Summary: Meinya, the tiny animal which followed Prushka everywhere was her lifeline ; it helped her recover her own humanity, and continues to support her and her companions now that she has definitely lost it. [This is a story about Prushka, Bondrewd and Meinya. Spoilers for anyone who hasn't at least read until chapter 38 of the manga. Complete.]


**Disclaimer :** **I do not own Made in Abyss nor its characters, which are the properties of Akihito Tsukushi.**

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 _ **Warning :** **Spoilers ahead for anyone who didn't read at least chapter 38 of the manga.**_

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Meinya was always there for Prushka. The little creature was what permitted her to stop hiding from Bondrewd and to become a normal child. After all, she looked like an empty shell before, and at most a crazy being without consciousness or at least the tinniest form of intelligence. She could only gurgle meaningless sounds as pain hijacked her mind. Her eyes, big and wide, seemed to leave her eye sockets all the time. She could only walk on fours, and when Bondrewd stopped making her experiencing astounding pain and deemed her as his child, he gave her a name, and some time after came Meinya, the small animal which soothed Prushka's pain like candy to a crying child. Since then, the two had always been together. Meinya soon became Prushka's eyes to explore the outside world when the girl understood her curiosity couldn't overcome the curse of the Abyss.

'It really is cute !' cheered Riko after being introduced to Meinya, 'I really want to pet that fur. It looks so soft.'

The two girls were talking happily as Riko took a rest before the stairs. She had harmed herself because she fell to the curse then, she came back to her senses thanks to Prushka. They had talked about a lot of things, like names Riko could have after becoming a White Whistle, or her reason to go to the bottom of the Abyss… Netherless, Prushka couldn't stop. She wanted to talk more and more until her voice broke from exhaustion. After all, she had always wanted a friend, and the possibility of fufilling her wish was right before her eyes.

'I know, right ? She smells so good, too !', exclaimed Prushka, quite proud of having Meinya by her side. 'And since she's always with me, I can pet her whenever I want !'

'Then, doesn't her smell come from you ?', asked Riko, 'like cats rub their owner's leg to put their smell there, indicating that person is theirs.'

'But I can't smell myself… I don't even know what I smell like !'

Prushka seemed to think about it for a while, her face contorting in thought, but then she turned to Riko.

'Hey, what's a cat ?'

Riko was surprised everyone knew cats, everyone knew at least what cats looked like. But not Prushka, and Riko was reminded again that she probably never went on the surface. She seemed to ignore a lot about the Abyss as well, proof that she didn't go very far outside. Somehow it made her quite sad, but in the end, it made her want to teach Prushka about all of it. About the surface, Orth, and the Abyss alike… Riko wanted Prushka to discover it all, and after only a couple hours, she considered Bondrewd's daughter like a good friend.

'It's a small animal which lives on the surface', began Riko as she drew a cat on her notebook, while Prushka stared in awe, Meinya climbing on her back.

'Wow, you really know a lot ! You never seem to think about anything, but you're really dependeable !' Prushka laughed as Riko grumbled, being called dumb-faced again, and she ran through the pages, showing Prushka all her drawings, 'I lost my first notebook on the way to the second layer, but Nanachi gave me another one. I draw creatures living in the Abyss, and take notes on their lifestyle, and how we can cook them, and a bunch of other things too !'

As their conversation continued, Prushka found herself more and more fascinated with the outside world : the Abyss, the surface, everything, more than ever. She couldn't wait for Riko to continue talking and threw questions at her repeatedly, not letting her rest. It was so fun, she had never talked like this with anyone before. There were too many first times.

'There are so many things I don't know', continued Riko, 'it would be super fun if you could come with us !'

'Me ? With you ?', asked Prushka incredulously. She couldn't imagine how fun it would be, to depart on an adventure with her newfound friends. She smiled from ear to ear as she tried to visualize how it would be, using what Riko had said to her about cave-raiding and exploring the Abyss.

'Ah', Prushka suddenly realized, 'but then I'd have to leave Papa. I can't do that, I'm sorry.'

Bondrewd had to continue his experiments, after all it would be so cruel to leave him like this… Prushka knew she was special to her adoptive father, he would be so lonely and lost without her, she was convinced of it. However, she couldn't stop wishing her father would finish his studies early so that they could all depart together : Riko with the robot-like human Reg (or human-like robot, she couldn't decide), accompanied by the fluffy and smart Nanachi, and finally joined by Bondrewd and her. She was sure Bondrewd's knowledge and skill would be useful to them, even if Reg and Nanachi seemed to be wary of him for now.

How, how she wished they could reconcile…

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She wished for it so bad that she had wanted and accepted to surrender her body that way, Bondrewd could finish his experiments with the 'help' she became, and everyone could go on an adventure together.

She felt various instruments tear methodically her body to pieces as Prying Hands sticked them in her limbs first. After a while, she felt them crush her bones and cut through her flesh. She wanted to cry and to shout it hurt like it never hurt before, and the sound was especially disturbing. However, the girl felt peaceful : her father gave her everything, and now she was going to help him and become his strenght.

Prushka saw her body parts being handled by the Prying Hands one after another and kept elsewhere. Her shape changed to look more and more viscous, since there wasn't any bones, tendon or ligament anymore. Her nerves had been cut and crushed, her skin removed, for her to be packaged easily in a tiny silver box.

And yet, her consciousness never faded completely, as if her soul was always there. When it hurt again, more than it hurt in the past, as the box fell on the ground and she started spilling around, Meinya was here too. Her gift, the one that made her recover in the past, the animal which became her adventuring partner was here with her. It soothed her physical pain and indicated her whereabouts to a desesperately crying Riko.

She changed shapes again to become a stone while completely leaving the container again, she wasn't thinking but she saw everything, her instincts acting on their own.

Prushka enjoyed Riko's soft touch as she held her tenderly, dreaming once more about going on an adventure. Riko and her had become a White Wistle together, and soon they will depart.

As always, Meinya would be here, traveling with them : even if the flower of dawn had changed, the beast stayed het loyal friend. Prushka hoped the little animal would be able to comfort her new companions like it did for her.

Finally, she had realized her dream…

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 **A/N : I really wanted to write something about Prushka this time, and to write something angsty maybe, with a bit of violence... Well, something that's not fluffy. I think it suits Made in Abyss better.**

 **I hope it's not boring though.**


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